1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus which has sorting and other functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine which has a sorting function. In such an apparatus, sheets of copying paper where each image on sheets of original paper has been copied are arranged in the same page order as the sheets of original paper, and then, finishing processing such as stapling processing of each sheaf of the sheets of copying paper is conducted before the sheaves are discharged, so that a predetermined number of copies can be made in each sheaf (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-248698 specification and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-226025 specification).
Using such a sorting function, for example, if a set of original paper made up of three kinds of original-paper sheaves is copied, the sorting function is used three times to copy each kind of original-paper sheaf one by one. Then, finishing processing is conducted of each of three kinds of sheaves of paper on which their originals have been copied. As a result, required copies can be obtained for each kind of original-paper sheaf. FIG. 11 is an illustration showing an example of the result of an output obtained if three copies of original paper made up of three kinds of original-paper sheaves A, B, C are made using the sorting function. In this case, the original-paper sheaf A is copied, stapling processing is conducted of each of three sheaves of paper on which the sheaf A has been copied, and the three sheaves are outputted as one set. With respect to the original-paper sheaves B, C, a set of three sheaves of paper is outputted in the same way, respectively.
However, after obtaining the set of three sheaves of copied paper, a user needs to manually sort the sheaves, A, A, A, B, B, B, C, C, C of copies according to an order of original-paper sheaves, A, B, C. Thus especially when the number of sheaves of the original document is great and/or the number of copies to be made is large, the user's manual sorting task, after completion of copying job by a copy machine, becomes a time-consuming, thereby markedly lowering an efficiency in an copying operation as a whole.